Yara Arts Group holds ninth theater workshop at Harvard Summer School (09/08/96)

Yara Arts Group holds ninth theater workshop at Harvard Summer School

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Yara Arts Group from La Mama Experimental Theatre in New York conducted its ninth annual theater workshop with students of the Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute.

As an introduction on July 8, Virlana Tkacz showed slides from Yara's productions in Ukraine and at La Mama Experimental Theater in New York, where Yara is a resident company. The first workshop session followed immediately. The workshops continued through Saturday, and culminated in a performance of modern Ukrainian poetry written by women, titled "Spinning Spells: Poetry by Ukrainian Women" on July 13 at Harvard University's Lowell Hall.

This year's workshop included poetry by such contemporary young poets such as Oksana Batiuk, Victoria Stakh, Ludmyla Taran and Oksana Zabuzhko, as well as an original piece titled "Gazing at Lesia: A Meditation with Two Poems and Footnotes." This piece included a poem by Lesia Ukrainka and Ms. Zabuzhko's poem "Through the Looking Glass: Mrs. Merzhinska."

As in all the previous years, the workshop was conducted by Ms. Tkacz, designed by Watoku Ueno, featuring translations by Ms. Tkacz and Wanda Phipps, who has also served as dramaturg for the events.

This year the workshop included music by Genji Ito, who has written music for the past two workshops, and featured actor Shona Tucker, who worked on a number of productions with Yara and in 1991 was the first American actress to work on a co-production in Kyiv with Ukrainian actors. There was a special guest artist from Ukraine: Nina Lapchik, costume designer from the Franko Theatre in Kyiv.

The Harvard theater workshops were initiated in 1988 by Ms. Tkacz, a New York theater director.

The first year's workshop examined the work of Les Kurbas, a Ukrainian experimental theater director from the 1920s. The presentation, "Voices and Images: Les Kurbas's Jimmie Higgins," included a lecture by Ms. Tkacz on Kurbas's work in terms of world theater, a slide presentation and a performance of scenes from his 1923 play "Mr. Higgins" directed by Ms. Tkacz with the members of Toronto's Avant-Garde Ukrainian Theatre and the students of the summer session.

Watoku Ueno designed the sets; Carol Ann Pelletier created the costumes; and Andry Pereklita set the lights.

Next summer Ms. Tkacz invited Kurbas scholar Nelli Kornienko from Moscow and theater director Les Taniuk from Kyiv to conduct the theater workshop with her. The presentation in 1989, was called "Les Kurbas: Fragments in Performance" and featured scenes from three Kurbas productions, including Shevchenko's "The Sky's Unwashed," Mr. Kurbas's "Jimmie Higgins" and Mykola Kulish's 1933 play "Maklena Grasa."

In the following years, the theater workshops focused on the performance of Ukrainian poetry on stage.

In 1990, "On Word, Thru Word, Forward!" presented the Ukrainian poetry of the 1920s, including the such poets as Mykhail Semenko, Valerian Polishchuk, Mykola Bazhan and Pavlo Tychyna. Composer Roman Hurko from Toronto joined the workshops that year as a special guest.

In 1991, "Radio Eternity" presented Ukrainian poetry from the 1920s and 1990s, including poetry by Mr. Tychyna, Volodymyr Svidzinsky, Oleh Lysheha, Mykola Riabchuk, and Ihor Rymaruk, and featured music by Slavko Halatyn of "Darka and Slavko."

In 1992 "Heart Pic(k)s" presented 19th and 20th century Ukrainian love poetry, including works by Vasyl Stefanyk, Edvard Strikha (Kost Bureviy), Oleh Lysheha, Vasyl Holoborodko, Ms. Zabuzhko, Yuri Andrukhovych, Yurko Pozaiak and Attila Mohylny. Special guests were Ukrainian rock star Vika (Vradiy) and her composer Volodymyr Bebeshko from Lviv.

In 1993 "Body Parts" presented avant-garde poetry from the 1990s, including works by Yurko Hudz, Ms. Stakh, Mr. Mohylny, Mr. Neborak, Ms. Zabuzhko and Ivan Andrusiak, as well as a hymn to the ancestors that included works by Geo Shkurupi and Mikhail Semenko. Vika and Mr. Bebeshko again joined the workshop, as did Canadian designer Nadia Maryniak, who created unique costumes that year.

In 1994 "Language of Space: Attics, Kitchens and Poems," featured mostly contemporary poetry, including works by Mykola Miroshnychenko, Andry Derkach, Nazar Honchar, Ms. Stakh, Ms. Zabuzhko, Vasyl Osadchy and Mr. Andrukhovych, as well as poetry by Bohdan Ihor Antonych and Mr. Semenko. Actors Karen-Angela Bishop of Yara and Andrei Vodichev of the Kurbas Theatre in Lviv were special guests, as were Kateryna Slipchenko, a dramaturg from Lviv, and Moira Shaughnessy, a costume designer from New York. The workshop featured music by Genji Ito of New York.

In 1995 "Oceanic Consciousness: Growing Fangs, Tails and Wings," featured poetry by Mr. Svidzinsky, Mr. Neborak, Anka Sereda, Oleh Lysheha, and Antonych as well as a dramatic etude by Oleksander Oles. Oleh Drach, of the Kurbas Young Theatre in Lviv was a special guest actor, while Genji Ito wrote the music and Kyoko Yamagami created the costumes.

For more information about the Ukrainian Theatre Workshop at Harvard Summer School please call Halyna Hryn at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, (617) 495-4053.

The Yara Arts Group may be reached throughout the year at 306 E. 11th St. #3B, New York, NY 10003; phone/fax, (212) 475-6474; e-mail, YCTG48A@prodigy.com.